Hope
by PixelEm
Summary: If there was one thing Jenny's husband was good at, it was giving her hope. (One-shot - set before Finding Dory - Warning: Spoilers)


**DISCLAIMER: As much as I would** ** _really_** **love having all these gorgeous and heart-wrenching characters all to myself, I must say, I do not own** ** _Finding Dory._**

Charlie huffed a little as he lugged the bundle of seashells. He couldn't tell if he'd gathered the quota for the day – it couldn't possibly have been this many. His fins felt as if they could fall right off from all the weight; his tail ached from how long he'd been swimming. Still, he remembered: regardless of how much his joints screamed at him to take a break from the shell gathering, he would never _ever_ do so, or even voice a complaint. Not if it sounded like he was getting tired of looking out for his daughter.

He heard a crisp sigh next to him, and he turned his head to face his wife. Jenny swam beside him, carrying a similarly impossible stack of shells in her fins. When they'd first started this daily routine Charlie always remembered her wearing the biggest smile, always oozing with determination – now, after so long of it, she seemed oxymoronic. She frowned deeply, her solemn gaze directed towards the sandy bottom, and when Charlie peered closely at her, he noticed twin circles under her eyes.

Charlie pursed his lips as he stared at her, a soft sigh escaping him.

 _"_ _We've been doing this for so long, every morning. But there's still no sign of her,"_ he admitted silently, _"We're both so tired of it… what… what if…?"_

 _"_ _No. You are_ not _giving up,"_ another side to him – the side that always came up whenever this train of thought came about – snapped back at him, _"You can't give up on her. She'll remember. I just know it."_

They kept swimming in silence. Then, after a good long while, Charlie squinted. A trail of pure white seashells came into view, all leading towards a small rocky cave.

For the first time since that morning, Charlie's face lit up with a smile. "Come on, Jenny," he said, nudging a slipping shell back into the crook of his fin, not once taking his eyes off the cave, "We're almost back, honey."

Despite its joints screeching at him, Charlie put his tail into gear, swimming far faster than before.

Once he made it to the cave's entrance Charlie's fins finally gave out, the shells clattering together as they fell to the floor. Clucking his tongue Charlie lifted one from the pile, brushed the sand from it, and beamed again. He turned around.

"Okay, Jenny," he said, "Which way do you want to– ?"

Then his smile faltered. His fins drooped.

"Jenny?"

His wife floated numerous tail-lengths away. The shells she'd been carrying were now scattered everywhere around her. She had her fins pressed to her shut eyes, and she steadily floated towards the ocean floor.

Charlie opened his mouth to call out to her again. Then he realized how hard she was shaking, and his blood turned icy.

"Jenny!" In an instant Charlie abandoned his shells, speeding as fast as his tail would allow. " _Jenny!"_

By the time he made it back to her side Jenny was a mere inch from touching the sand. She kept shaking her head as she sobbed into her fins, her every wail slicing through the calm sea atmosphere.

Charlie hovered next to her, his brow knitting at the sight of her tears. "J… Jenny…?" he said, tentatively reaching out to stroke her dorsal fin. "…Uh– Jenny, darling? Why're you…?"

Jenny sobbed again before pulling her fins away from her face, blinking her eyes open. "I… I just… Oh, Charlie…" She stared up at her husband, her eyes tinged with a red haze. "W-Why…Why're we…"

"Jenny, please," Charlie pleaded, rubbing Jenny's back a little harder, "What's wrong? Is it…" He swallowed before continuing, in a voice far softer than before:

"…is it… is it about _Dory_ …?"

Upon hearing their daughter's name Jenny went completely silent. She stared into Charlie's eyes, her body relaxing ever so slightly. Then, within a slit-second, her face scrunched up in emotional stress, and with a stifled wince she shoved her face into her husband's chest.

"W-Why…?" Then, she burst out: "…Why are we still _doing this?"_

Charlie blinked as he stared down at his wife. "W–What…?" Quickly he took one of her fins in his own, using his other to resume rubbing her side. "I… J-Jenny, what do you mean? What do you mean, why are we still doing this? What– ?"

"It's been six months already!" Jenny sobbed, her voice smothered by how hard she was pressing her mouth to Charlie's scales. "She could've found us by now! She… What if she never made it out of Quarantine? What if she made it out here and got distracted and… and a _shark_ got to her!?" With each new sentence her voice grew shriller.

"J-Jenny…" Charlie coaxed, "You can't talk like that! She'll know a predator when she sees one!"

Jenny, however, paid him no attention, interrupting him with even more tearful possibilities. "What if… Oh my goodness, what if she's completely forgotten about where she came? What…? What…?"

Then, in a tone so soft Charlie had to strain his ears just to hear her:

"…What if… What if she's forgotten _us…?"_

"No no no, Jenny, don't you dare say that," Charlie said quickly, floating backwards so he could take his wife's fins in his own.

Without Charlie's chest to rest on Jenny's head lowered. She seemed to stop crying, but her shoulders still tensed each time she suppressed a sob.

"Jenny."

"…"

"Jenny, please look at me."

After a few moments she did. She mumbled, "…W-What…?"

Charlie looked her straight in the eyes. He lifted one of his fins, pressed it to her cheek, and gave her the softest smile he could muster.

"Do you remember what Dory asked us one day? 'Would you ever forget me if I ever forget you?'" he recited, "And do you remember what we told her? We told her that we'd never forget her. Ever." He motioned towards the lines of seashells behind him. "It was _your_ idea to lay out the shells. Because you knew, somewhere in that brain of hers, was a memory of _us_. Us, and the shells. You knew she has it in her to remember the shells, even if she can't remember anything else."

Jenny's reddened eyes brightened ever so slightly as she took in his words. Then her gaze whipped back to the floor as her lips quivered once more.

"I… I'm sorry, Charlie, I'm just…" She clenched her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut. "…I just can't stop _worrying about her…"_

"I know, honey. I'm worried about her too." With that Charlie pulled Jenny into another hug, gently stroking her dorsal fin as he held her. "But we can't give up on her. We can't. Not after we told her that we wouldn't forget her."

They remained in the embrace for what felt like a solid minute. Neither of them said a word. After a while of the silence Charlie prepared to clear his throat, to remind Jenny of their original objective.

Then Jenny piped up, her voice still trembling, still terrified – and yet, this time, Charlie could detect a tiny hint of determination as she muttered:

"…S-She… She's our little kelpcake… She'll find us… She loves shells… and… and she loves us… she'll remember us…"

Charlie let himself smile again. "Exactly."

 **D'aw… :3 Yeah, this was a short little one-shot I got the idea for after looking up way too much Finding Dory fanart (God, I love the movie to pieces…).**

 **Now, right now, I** ** _am_** **working on another Finding Dory story – except writer's block and anxiety are hitting me like a freight train right now, so I'm reaaaaaally not sure when exactly it'll be done. But still, I am determined to complete it, so I am not abandoning it. I'll just leave you readers with a little hint as to who our lead character will be:**

 **Hank.**

 **And that is all ;3**

 **As always, I am Pixel, and I hope you readers have an awesome day and** ** _just keep swimming!_**

 **~Pixel**


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